Nico DiAngelo and the Necromancer's War
by Agentaace
Summary: Even if life is pretty good for the son of Hades right now, a new threat looms around the corner. Now Nico has to make the decision: friends or family? Power or loyalty? Slightly inspired from Disney's Hercules
1. 1 A Fresh Start

**Chapter 1- A Fresh Start**

"Mind if I sit down?" Will Solace asked, as he set an apple on the stone table.

"Do what you want," Nico answered. Will took that as a yes, and took a seat. Nico looked down at his bagel, which only had one bite taken out of it. He wasn't feeling very hungry. What he was feeling was a mixture of excitement and nervousness, since today was the first day that he would see his sister since she had left for New Rome. He glanced back up, and saw Will staring at him. "Is there something you want?"

"No, just thinking. You look tired, is everything all right?" Will, being a doctor, could normally tell when something wasn't sitting right, whether it be with Nico or any other one of his patients.

"I'm fine, it's good. I'm just going to see Hazel later today."

"Oh, that sounds fun. I hope you aren't shadow traveling, though." He seemed worried, but there was no need. It had been a couple weeks since the war had ended, if it could even be called a war. And Nico hadn't used any underworld magic since, so he should be perfectly good to go. He said as much, and Will relaxed, though he didn't let it go completely.

"Yeah, and I should probably get going soon. Different time zones, and all." Even if Nico's time zone logic was flawed, he didn't care. He could never remember if California was four hours behind or four hours ahead. So, he decided not to take any chances, and would be leaving early.

Just as he started to stand, he heard a voice behind him. "Nico! Will!" He turned to see Percy and Annabeth, holding a volleyball. "Catch!" He threw it towards NIco and Will, and while Nico flinched a bit, Will's arm shot out and caught it.

"Hey, Percy," Will greeted, and tossed the ball back. "What's up?"

"We were wondering if you guys wanted to play some volleyball," Percy answered.

"Oh, I was actually just leaving," Nico said, glancing to side. "Maybe next time?"

"Leaving? Where?" Percy looked confused. Nico hoped that he didn't think he was leaving for good, because he wasn't.

"Well, he's probably going to see Hazel. Isn't that right?" Annabeth said, taking the volleyball from Percy. She tossed it up and down in her hands.

"Yeah, I am. How did you guess?"

"It's been a couple of weeks, and you're all rested up, and you've got to be missing her by now. Plus, you promised Reyna that you'd visit," Annabeth explained. As per usual, the daughter of Athena was spot on. Nico shrugged and nodded. "That's what I thought."

"Wow, that's pretty impressive, Wise Girl," Percy commented, as he hooked an arm around her. Nico was starting to feel awkward, so he dismissed himself. After he said goodbye to Will, he started out into the woods of Camp Half-Blood.

The trees blocked most of the sunlight, which was a fortunate fact in the late August heat. It didn't help that Nico's pale skin naturally didn't like the sun's rays, and he burned pretty easily. Will kept trying to get him to wear more sunscreen, but he didn't like the feel of the lotion.

Even if his roughly-guessed time zones meant that he should hurry a little, Nico figured he should probably get the daily new report of the Underworld since he was partly running the place. He luckily wasn't called in very often, but being the son of Hades, he was highly respected amongst the dead. Hazel and Reyna could wait a little while more. Plus, he'd been looking for news of Leo's spirit in Elysium, or maybe in the Fields.

He placed the rest of his uneaten bagel on some pre-dug dirt that he used nearly every day, along with a couple of oranges he grabbed from the dining hall. That was probably enough for one spirit, especially since they couldn't really deny the Prince of the Underworld. Sure enough, the misty silhouette of a man rose from the displaced ground.

"At your service, sir," The spirit bowed. He was corporeal enough for ragged clothes to be seen, some kind of old uniform. He wasn't a spirit that Nico recognized, which was slightly unusual.

"Where is the normal reporter?" Nico asked. He didn't really have time for small talk.

"She's, uh, busy with something else," He answered. The spirit looked nervous, but Nico just stared him down until he relented and told him more. "Lord Hades sent me as a messenger to you."

"Oh, really? Why wouldn't he message me himself?" Nico wasn't sure whether the spirit was telling the truth or not, since the undead generally weren't the most trustworthy of beings.

"Lord Hades is very busy these days, with things that aren't meant for common knowledge." Nico decided that he wouldn't be getting much valuable information from him, so it was better to get to the point.

"So, then. What is my father's message?" Nico asked.

"He wishes for counsel with you and your living sister, sooner rather than later," The spirit answered. He also looked like he'd rather not be here, with the way he was fidgeting.

"Did he state a reason?"

"No, sir."

"Alright. I will meet with him later today. You are dismissed." Nico waved a hand, and the spirit vanished. Nico sighed. Today was already nerve-wracking enough, did the Fates really need to throw something else at him?

He stepped behind a tree, where the shadows were thicker, and pictured the Pluto Temple as he melted into the darkness. It was a good landing spot, since no one ever really went in there and it was guaranteed to be dark.

As he stepped out of the shadows on the other side, he was met with a dark, empty room. The walls were stone, and pictures were etched into the walls, depicting various rituals and artifacts. There was no light source, besides the open entrance. There was a shrine in the middle, with the symbol for Pluto and an altar for offerings.

Nico thought he saw something move. Even though it might have just been his paranoia, he drew his sword partway in defence. The thing moved again, and this time he noticed a mass of curls poking out from outside the entrance. That would be Hazel. He sheathed his sword, since he really wasn't supposed to even have it in the temples.

"Hey!" Nico called, making her jump. He walked over to her, and leaned against the stone columns. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh, hi Nico! You scared me a bit," Hazel laughed. It made sense that it was her, since she was the only one who ever visited the Pluto temple. Right now it looked like she was feeding pigeons, from the bag of breadcrumbs in her hands. "I was starting to think that you weren't coming."

"I got held up a little. You know, the usual shenanigans." Nico debated telling her about the message from their father, but decided to put it off for later and not ruin the relaxed atmosphere. When Nico looked at Hazel a little closer, he saw that she looked pretty tired. "So, um, how have you been?" His plan might not last long. If they needed to talk seriously, then he would.

"Oh, you know. New Rome is pretty much as I remember," Hazel shrugged. She seemed exhausted, but not like she was going to tell him what was wrong that easily. That was fine, he didn't want to pry, but that emotion was battling with the feeling of a responsibility to protect her.

"...Alright. Should we go say hello to Reyna before she hunts me down?" Nico went with leaving it alone. Also, he was actually kind of worried Reyna would try to find him.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Hazel agreed. She stood up, and they made their way down the streets together. Nico recognized some people, but he was never around long enough to get to know anyone here. Everyone knew him, though. He was the _Graecus_ who united the camps, and gained the friendship of Reyna, which was not an easy task. So he got stared at a lot.

Finally they made it to the Senate House, where they would find Reyna and Frank. Frank was able to keep his Praetor status since Jason had left to be the head of Cabin 1 at Camp Half-Blood, and also since Piper was there. So far, Nico hadn't heard anything bad about Frank's leadership, which wasn't surprising. Frank was already a great leader.

Nico knocked on the door, which shortly was answered by Reyna. "Nico!" She said in surprise. Nico glanced at his sister.

"You didn't tell her I was coming today?" He asked.

"She certainly did not." Reyna said, with a good-natured frown in Hazel's direction. Hazel shrugged.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise."

"Well, you were right about that, I guess," Reyna said thoughtfully. She lightly held both of Nico's arms, holding him out to examine him. "You look a lot better than when I left."

"Yeah, a couple week's rest can work miracles. Though that was mostly Will's doing." Nico explained. The scars on his arms, from the werewolf, had almost completely healed, which was good because he was wearing short sleeves more. Today he was wearing a T-shirt from a band that he had only heard about one song from, but clothes were clothes. And no way was he wearing that horrible Hawaiian shirt ever again.

"I'm glad someone's taking care of you, since you can't seem to do it yourself." Reyna smirked. "Come on in. Frank's in here pretending not to be bored out of his mind without you, Hazel."

"I hope we weren't interrupting anything?" Hazel asked.

"No, we were discussing some praetor stuff. It can wait." Reyna led them into the Senate Building, where Frank was leaning back in a chair, feet on the table. When he saw Hazel, he hurriedly stood up, and hugged her tightly.

"I thought I was going to die." He said. He looked pretty good, he had healed almost completely from the battle, and seemed healthy as ever. The only thing was he also looked kind of tired. But who didn't, these days?

"Frank, this is an important part of being a praetor. Get used to it," Reyna scolded. She lightly swatted him on the arm, and gestured for everyone to sit down around the table. She sat at the head, with Frank on her right. Hazel and I sat to her left. It was good to see friends again. It was weird to say, but Nico kind of prefered being with Reyna and Hazel as opposed to anyone at Camp. He definitely enjoyed being with Will, but these two just knew him better.

"So, anything new?" Nico asked. He didn't know when would be a good time to bring up meeting his father. Perhaps an opportunity would come naturally.

"It's been kind of rough, getting the legion back together. Octavian sure did a number on everyone." Reyna sighed, and put her hand over her face. "Morale's been great, though. People haven't really stopped celebrating yet. On the contrary, if some new threat arises, I'm not sure we'll be ready…"

"Oh, Reyna's just being paranoid. Like I've said before, we Romans are ready for anything! Isn't it true that we can move camp completely within four days?" Frank said, leaning back in his chair again.

"That's at our top performance level. Which we are not at right now. That's what we were discussing when you two showed up," Reyna explained. "Do either of you have any suggestions?"

"Well, if everyone could remember what being productive and ready looked like, then maybe they'd go back to their old routines," Nico suggested. He wasn't entirely sure how all of the Romans worked, but he had a good idea of how to lead. It was similar to the battle strategies in Mythomagic, but a little more personal in that you had to consider how people actually worked.

"Are you suggesting that we start up war games again?" Reyna asked. She looked intrigued by the idea, and Nico could almost see the gears spinning in her head.

"That's exactly it," Nico nodded. "It will remind everyone what being Roman really stands for."

"We'd have to have stricter rules. We haven't had any war games since Gwendolyn almost died," Reyna mused. Nico wasn't there when that happened, but he had spoken with her the day after. She had been weird to be around, since Nico knew that she should have been dead. He had felt it. And yet, there she was, talking to him, and very much alive.

"I think it's a good idea," Frank commented. "I always liked them." Frank didn't mention it, but that's where he had gotten his first quest. So it was likely that he would associate good memories with that.

"Alright," Reyna nodded. "We'll let everyone know tomorrow. Thank you for the help."

"What's been new with you, Nico?" Hazel asked. Nico shrugged, and wondered if this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

"It's about the same as what you described here. Not a lot has changed." He hesitated for a second. "There is one thing, though. For Hazel." She turned sideways to him in curiosity, and gestured for him to continue. "Yeah. Well, father wants to meet with both of us, later today. Or as soon as we can."

"Really? Why?" Hazel asked in surprise, glancing at Frank for support or something.

"I don't know. The messenger spirit who told me just said that he was really busy, but that our presence was important," Nico explained. He figured that they should get going soon, since their father was not a very patient god. Who knows, they might be late already, since the spirit hadn't given them a specific time.

"Interesting. Does he do that very often?" Reyna asked, resting her head on a hand and leaning forwards.

"More recently he's been calling me in to help out with smaller duties, but he hasn't asked for Hazel before."

"That sounds kind of suspicious," Frank commented. "If the God of the Underworld is busier than usual, that can't mean anything good. There hasn't been any massive tragedies recently, has there?"

"Not that I'm aware of, and I would be the person who would know. It's probably something else," Nico said. He wouldn't say that he was suspicious, but something was definitely off.

"If it's as important as it sounds, then we should leave soon, right?" Hazel asked. She had a set look on her face, and even if she wasn't sure if this was a good idea, she seemed determined to at least give it a shot. Nico nodded. Reyna stood up, and walked both of them back over to the large Senate doors.

"I hope all goes well," Reyna said, and shook Nico's hand.

"Yeah, me too." Nico started walking back with Hazel, who linked their arms together. They walked back to the Pluto Temple, since they agreed that it was probably the best place for shadow traveling. It was dark, and already had a strong connection to the Underworld, so it would be pretty easy to cross over from there. Nico could almost picture Will advising him not to shadow travel again, but this time he was with Hazel, and that would also make this much easier.

He wrapped the shadows around the two of them, and with the added strength from Hazel, they vanished from the sight of anyone who might have been watching.

* * *

 **Ayyyyy look at this! I'm finally rewriting it, something i've been wanting to do for like 2 yearssss**

 **So this is kinda the first two chapters of the original, taking the ending of the last book into account, and just being better writing in general**

 **Next update will be whenever I finish the next chapter, schedules are hard especially when you're writing two stories at once. Sadly most of my attention is on Charatale right now... But i'll have fun with this too**


	2. A Family Reunion

**Chapter 2- A Family Reunion**

Nico and Hazel landed just inside the gates guarded by Cerebus. The lines were busy today, as they were everyday, and it looked like Cerebus wasn't going hungry anytime soon. Nico could tell that Hazel didn't like being in the Underworld very much, probably from being trapped down here for years.

Hazel must have been thinking along the same lines, because she soon asked, "Nico? When Pluto, or Hades I guess, when he sees me…"

"You think he's going to send you back here forever?" Nico guessed. He had also been a little concerned about that. But since Hades had asked both of them there today, he figured that this meeting was going to be about something else. He explained that to Hazel, who nodded, but didn't let go of the stress she was feeling. Nico was stressed, too, but for slightly different reasons.

His dad was one of the more honest gods, since he mostly stuck to the rules the Olympians set, and he had never actually broken the vows of not having children. Both Hazel and Nico had been born before that happened, and technically they didn't really have the exact same godly parent. Not that there were many differences between Hades and Pluto, but they were still separate entities. So it wasn't that he thought his father was up to no good.

But Nico was stressed because he had asked Hazel to be here, too. It wasn't unusual for Nico to come and go here, or for Hades to call for extra help running the place. But as far as he knew, Hazel hadn't been back here since she had been brought back to life. So what could Hades want that required the both of them? Nico didn't have the slightest clue.

They made their way to the palace as quickly as they could, doing their best to ignore the despairing pleas of the dead. Nico's glare helped to keep them away. Every now and then he had to shake one off of his feet, but it never escalated further than that. Off in the distance, the two could see the furies watching them. As Nico looked, one flew off to the castle.

"Look, there's Alecto going to tell Hades we're here," Nico pointed to the Fury growing smaller in the distance.

"Who?" Hazel asked. It occurred to Nico that she probably hadn't really ever seen a Fury. They tended to be up to more important tasks than watching over the Fields of Asphodel. Such as watching over the Fields of Punishment. Both were fields, but drastically different.

"Hades's personal assistants. They're the Dirae in Roman mythology," Nico explained. Hazel looked at him curiously.

"And you know them by name?" She asked. From the way she nervously held her arms when she glanced at the Furies, she did not like them very much.

"Yeah. Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. We're kind of friends, they help me out when I need them. They're like the police of the underworld. Though Percy's told me that they've dabbled in being math teachers before. You'd have to ask him about it." Hazel laughs a little, but it's obvious that she's still on edge.

By now they've reached Hades's palace. The twenty-foot-tall silver gate stretched to the sky, Hazel craning her neck trying to see the top. Through the gate they could see the palace itself, made to resemble Olympus. Though Olympus's color scheme was black and gold, here the architecture was mostly silver and white. Ironically enough, if you only based your impression only on color it made it look a little brighter and more friendly than Olympus. If it weren't for the green fire and screaming everywhere, it might look inviting.

Luckily the gates opened before them, since it would have taken an army to force them open from the ground. It reminded Nico a little of a car garage he had seen when he wandered New York. He couldn't really imagine Hades holding a little button, though. Or ever having a car that wasn't a chariot.

The thing about Hades is, you have to tread carefully. He's a pretty rational guy, but the tiniest thing can send him into full blown rage. And not many live to tell the tale of Hades being angry. With Nico, he's learned over the years how to deal with his father. He's learned not to make him angry, at all costs.

Hades sat at the end of the hall. His throne was made of human bones, which was contrasted by the smaller throne of flowers next to him. That was, of course, Persephone's. Hades was leaning his head into his hand, tapping the fingers of his other hand on the armrest. It made an unnerving noise against the bones, making Hazel shiver.

Nico walked a little bit in front of Hazel, subtly shielding her. Hades's eyes landed on them, and he straightened, dropping his casual, bored demeanor. They were alone in the throne room, save for the poplar trees lining the walls. Persephone was out for the summer, which likely would make Hades more touchy than usual.

"Children," Hades nodded at them in greeting.

"Father," Nico bowed his head back. Hazel also dipped her head, but said nothing. They came to a stop a few feet in front of his throne, which was mortal sized for now. Not to say that it was small, because even in mortal form Hades was very tall. Over 6 feet, and sturdily built. Not overly muscular, though. That aspect was saved for his brothers.

"I see you both took your time arriving," Hades commented, expression not changing.

"You didn't specify a time," Nico said, in an attempt to defend himself. It was true, though, the spirit he summoned had not been very specific at all. He got the impression that Hades didn't care for his excuses, though.

"To get anywhere in the world, you must make proper judgments if one is not already in place." Hades tapped his fingers against the chair again, making Hazel cringe from the noise. "You must examine the host and the urgency with which he summons you." Hades eyes were the purest black, and it was plain as day that they were actually starting directly into your soul.

"W-well, that's all well and good, but why are we here?" Hazel asked nervously. Through her fear was a layer of impatience, enough to try and make Hades get to the point. That in itself was brave, since she was effectively taking some control of the conversation away from a god. It wasn't a thing that normally happened.

There was a long silence. Finally, Hades answered her question with one of his own. "Have you ever noticed… That the gods and demigods are constantly at war? They're always fighting over something. And, if you haven't noticed, I've always attempted to remain neutral, seeing as I have needed to save my strength for a real cause worth fighting for." It looked like Hades was closer to revealing what he wanted, even if he was getting to it in a rather roundabout way.

"But you fought in Manhattan." Nico reminded him. He wasn't entirely sure that he liked where this was going. What, in Hades's opinion, was a 'real cause worth fighting for'?

"And why was that?" Hades drawled.

"Because… Because I asked you to," Nico realized. Could it be true that Hades hadn't even slightly wanted to help in the first place? Civilization would have been destroyed without his army!

"Indeed. Had it been anyone else, I would have declined. But you… You're family."

"But you also fought the giants in Athens!" Hazel said. This is also… probably true, even though Nico wasn't there personally.

"That was out of pure necessity. Those giants had escaped Tartarus, and they needed to be brought back. The dead aren't supposed to walk among the living." Hades gave Hazel a meaningful look, effectively getting her to stop arguing. "But in my opinion, our family is small enough. You, Hazel Levesque, deserve a second chance at life, which the gods stole from you."

Hazel looked like she wanted to argue, but kept her mouth shut for the time being. She wasn't entirely sure what Hades was getting at. And how had the gods been a part of her death? Unless he was counting Gaea as a goddess, or if he blamed Hecate for summoning Pluto in the first place for her mother to fall in love with. In an indirect way, it was Hecate who had cursed her, and given her the powers that lead to the giant Alcyoneus rising.

"You, Nico di Angelo, deserve a sister, since your elder sister was also stolen from you by the gods," Hades continued.

"Bianca sacrificed herself for everyone!" Nico argued. After she had died, he had been livid with the gods, sure, but he had come to accept it after a while. He didn't want her memory being disrespected.

"If Apollo hadn't used his oracle to deliver the prophecy, and if Artemis hadn't turned her into a Huntress, not to mention the other demigods not saving her, she would be standing next to you right now. And if it wasn't for Zeus, your mother would also still be alive," Hades reasoned. Nico frowned. His father's words stung, but they also rang true. It was true that the gods had caused them all suffering, not just Nico and Hazel. All of the demigods had their lives toyed with by the gods.

"You want us to be angry with the gods?" Hazel asked. She was scared of her dad, but she wasn't going to let that stand in her way. From what it sounded like, Hades was up to something, but it didn't sound good. She wanted to get to the bottom of this, even if it meant risking Hades' wrath.

"That is how change happens, is it not?" Hades said casually. He didn't look terribly interested in the conversation, even though it seemed serious.

"Alright, what are you getting at?" Nico asked. He was getting tired of talking without really saying anything. He had more questions than when he came here, at this point.

"Impatient, are we?" Hades raised an eyebrow. Nico mirrored his expression. "Fine. I suppose that the two of you are worthy enough to be trusted with such... sensitive information. I've discovered that, under the Olympians control, the world will only descend into more chaos and bloodshed. They've proved themselves incompetent, and something needs to change. My proposed solution to this is to take control for myself, in the hopes of a better world for everyone." He let his words hang in the silence, allowing the two demigods to piece together the meanings of the statement.

"You… what?" Hazel asked, her eyes grown wide in confusion.

"If I'm hearing this right, you're planning to dethrone the gods, and seize power of the entire world?" Nico clarified calmly. Hazel turned her shocked eyes to him.

"Precisely. That's-" Hades started.

"Wait, no!" Hazel interrupted. Hades's gaze darkened. "You can't do that, you'd start a war! Things were just getting better, you can't take that away now!" She turned to Nico next. "You aren't agreeing with this, are you?" She asked. Nico didn't know how to respond without making someone angry, so he said nothing.

"If the world continues to be as it is, everything good about the world will get ripped away sooner or later. My rule will make provide security. The ends justify the means, no?" Nico noticed that Hades eyes had gone colder, and he had lost the casual facade.

"No, I don't want to be here anymore. I'm sorry, Nico, I tried." Hazel looked at Nico apologetically, and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Nico looked nervously back at his father. His posture gave nothing away, but a potted plant next to the throne burst aflame. Nico stepped back. "I apologize for her," He tried, at a loss for what do next.

"No need, I was the one who invited her. I should have seen that coming." Hades waved his hand. The plant was nothing but a pile of ashes now. "I am, however, impressed that you chose to stay." Nico restrained from saying that he had only stayed because he feared the alternative. "But I would like for you to swear that nothing of this leaves this room. Swear it on the River Styx."

"I swear it on the Styx," Nico said. He felt a hum in the air, knowing that now he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about this whether he wanted to or not.

"Splendid. You are one of the most powerful demigods out there, I'm proud to call you my son. I'm even more proud that you'll stand by my side for this conflict," Hades smiled. Nico was partly warmed by pride and a sense belonging, but he was also partly terrified. He was finally almost being accepted by other demigods, how could he turn his back on them? Surely they be fighting against Hades. He didn't want to fight them.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to do as you ask, father," Nico said carefully. He didn't want to be the next potted plant. Hades eyes narrowed.

"And that is because?" He asked.

"I have friends, I'm not sure I'd want to betray them," Nico said, feeling slightly panicked. He rushed to make a compromise, speaking before Hades could respond. "But if I could come back tomorrow, after I've thought about this more?" Hades considered that for a few moments, but it felt more like an eternity.

"I suppose… As long as you show up here at the same time tomorrow. Don't be late." With that Hades summoned a spirit to clean up the plant's ashes, completely shifting his focus. Nico was effectively dismissed. He made a short bow, and walked out of the palace.

Once outside, he shadow traveled back to his cabin in Camp Half-Blood and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Updates for this will be slow, since it's not the only thing I'm writing, and so I can't put all of my effort into it. Sorry!**

 **But I think the most important question to ask right now is, what from the original would you like to see in this one? I'm not sure what I'll need to change and what I'll need to take out, so be specific if there's things that you really want to see! At this point anything could happen!**

 **Also, reviews are suuuuper helpful for motivation! Thanks for reading!**


	3. A Meeting

**Chapter 3- A Meeting**

Reyna Ramirez-Arellano stumbled off of her pegasus onto the grass in front of the Big House. After her flight to New York from California she felt exhausted, but she brought news that couldn't wait. She climbed the steps and knocked on the door.

Chiron answered. "Oh, Reyna. I'm surprised to see you. Come in, are you feeling alright?" The centaur held out a hand and guided her inside.

"I just flew here from New Rome," Reyna said. Chiron offered her a chair, but she didn't want to sit down. "We need to call an emergency cabin counselor meeting. It's urgent." Chiron looked at her, and saw the determination burning in her eyes. He could tell that this was very serious, and very important.

"Alright. I'll send for everyone immediately." Chiron went to the door, but Reyna stopped him before he could leave.

"Wait. Don't tell Nico. This needs to be kept secret from him for now," Reyna said. She felt guilty for holding things back from her friend, but this was too important for sentimentality.

"Nico hasn't been seen since this morning, so I don't think that will be an issue," Chiron nodded.

"Wait, nobody's seen him? Would you mind sending someone to look for him? In his cabin, perhaps," Reyna said anxiously. Chiron nodded again, and continued walking out of the door. When he was gone, Reyna collapsed on a nearby chair. Sighing deeply, she wondered what she was doing. She was, technically speaking, betraying a friend. Regretfully, but necessary.

Hazel had come running into the Senate Building of New Rome, looking distressed. Frank had run over to ask her what was wrong, and Reyna had looked around for Nico. She didn't see him. Once Frank had managed to calm down Hazel's frazzled nerves, Reyna asked what was troubling her. She had explained what had happened in the Underworld, in as much detail as she could remember. When Reyna asked, she explained that Nico was still there.

Reyna, filled with concern for her friend and her legion, not to mention every half-blood that existed, had jumped onto a pegasus and flown out immediately. An hour and a half later, and she was arriving in Camp Half-Blood.

The door opened again, making her jump to her feet again. A blonde boy entered, looking worried. "Nico's asleep in his cabin," He told her.

"Good. Your name?" Reyna asked.

"Will Solace. Now tell me, what's going on?" The blonde asked with a surprising fierceness. Reyna recognized him as a boy that had been close to Nico in the couple of days after the battle a couple weeks ago. She figured that he must be about as worried as she was, even if he didn't know the full story.

"I'll tell everyone when they get here. Sit," She said, sitting down herself at the head of the table they used for meetings such as this. Solace sat down next to her, anxiously tapping his foot.

"Nico overused his powers again, didn't he?" Solace asked, even though he didn't really phrase it as a question. Reyna looked at him with curiosity, and he explained. "I recognize that kind of exhaustion. Normally he would have woken up the second I opened the door. He went to New Rome this morning, right? What happened?"

"You're very sharp, Solace. But I'm afraid I have to wait for the others to arrive." She tapped her fingers on the table, and it wasn't long before the room was filled up with 17 demigods and one centaur. However slacking the Greek demigods were, they understood the meaning of 'Emergency' pretty well. Chiron entered, nodded to Reyna.

"Everyone's here?" She asked. A couple of people nodded. "Good. Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid that we have a crisis on our hands. Yes, another one," She added when several people groaned. "A few hours ago, Hazel Levesque and Nico diAngelo were called to a meeting with their father, Hades." Solace looked at her in shock.

"And he didn't think to mention that to anyone?" Percy Jackson asked.

"Only myself, and my co-praetor. It wasn't planned," She attempted to soothe his anger. "You may have noticed that Nico is not here right now, which isn't a coincidence. I requested he be left out of this, and as he is sleeping off magic-exhaustion at the moment, it's a fair decision."

"So this meeting's about Nico? This feels strangely like talking behind his back," Jason Grace said. Reyna nodded regretfully.

"His father said some… interesting things. Enough to make Hazel abandon the conversation prematurely, and report back to me." She let that hang in the air for a moment, and then continued. "Apparently Hades has decided that the Gods aren't doing a satisfactory job in ruling the mortal world. Hades plans to take power for himself, and dethrone them." This statement was met with shock, and some anger. She nodded sympathetically. She had had time to adjust herself to the news on the way here.

"But that would mean civil war!" Annabeth Chase protested. Reyna nodded, already aware of that. "That would cause chaos and death, not just for mortals. For the entire world!"

"So the question now is, what are we going to do about it?" Reyna said.

"I say we prepare for the inevitable!" A demigod Reyna hadn't met before said. "We prepare for war!" If she had to guess, and her guesses were normally accurate, this was a son of Mars. Or Ares, for the Greek terms.

"Sherman, we can't make assumptions until we have the full story," Annabeth said, frowning. She had her thinking face on, apparently going into deep thought on this issue. Reyna was thankful that she was here. Loathe as she was to admit it, this problem was much bigger than her, and she'd need help.

"Then how do we get more information?" Percy asked.

"We get a primary source," Piper Mclean said. The counselors that weren't as familiar with Nico or the Romans were being noticeably quiet, as well as Solace.

"But where do we… Oh," Percy realized.

"We can discuss that when it's necessary. For now, we need to decide whether or not we tell the Gods," Reyna said.

"Of course we need to tell them!" Leo Valdez said. "If they found out we knew and didn't tell them, they'd fry us to bits!" Reyna knew it was only a matter of time before he got tired of being quiet. The fact that he went without talking this long was a miracle.

"But there's a chance that we'd give them false information," Piper reasoned. "It'd be better to wait a bit."

"Which brings us back to getting the truth," Annabeth nodded.

"Great, let's go grab the death kid and get that information!" Sherman, the Ares head counselor, said, moving to stand up.

"Wait, before anyone ends up hurting him, how about I talk to Nico first?" Solace piped up. That's the first time he'd spoken since the meeting started.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, Will. If he really is being turned against us, then I don't want anything to happen to you," A girl Reyna didn't know said. She gave of the vibes of a daughter of Trivia. Reyna nodded in agreement with her.

"You can't seriously think that, Lou. Everybody here knows him, you know that he wouldn't do something like that!" Solace protested.

"I'm well aware of that, but we have to be prepared for the worst," Reyna said regretfully. Nico was one of her best friends, and this was hurting her a lot. But she had to look out for the greater good before anything else.

"I say we veto anyone close to him being the ones to talk to him," Sherman suggested. Reyna could agree with that.

"That would make sense…" Percy nodded.

"That would include you, you know," Annabeth reminded him.

"Yeah, I got that part. That would be me, Will, Jason, and… Reyna, right?"

"Don't get me wrong, I like the kid, but the protection of the camps comes first. I'd be willing to do whatever was needed to keep everyone safe," Reyna said.

"I guess so," Percy agreed. "But if the people close to him can't be the ones to talk to him first, then the people who are hostile to him shouldn't do it, either. That means you, Sherman." Sherman shrugged, not protesting.

"I think it should be Reyna," Piper said. She was met with silence, and she looked around in curiosity. "I mean, it's obvious, right? She's strong enough to defend herself, she's close enough to get him to talk, and she's willing to do whatever it takes. That's what she said, and I believe her."

"Thank you, Piper," Reyna nodded to her.

"Yeah, I'd accept that," Jason said. Reyna smiled.

"I guess that's settled. Now we need our priorities for questions," Reyna said. She was pleased with how that turned out.

"What else Hades said," Leo suggested. Many people around the room agreed.

"Hades's plan," The daughter of Hecate added.

"What Nico plans to do," Percy said.

"What side he plans to be on," Sherman said.

"You can't seriously think he'd turn his back on the camp, though, can you?" Solace asked defensively.

"Well, it's his dad, right?" Sherman shrugged. "Wouldn't you?"

"No, because we're loyal to the camp here!" Percy interjected.

"And Nico seems to be pretty happy here, now, so I don't think he'd throw that away on a whim," Jason helped.

"Whatever. Just be careful, Roman," Sherman decided. He stood up, and left to go back outside.

"...Well, I think that concludes our meeting. Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Reyna bowed her head, and waited for everyone else to leave before going out herself.

Now to go find Nico.

* * *

 **Yeah, this isn't a _full_ update, but I really wanted to update on Father's Day. It's suitably ironic, no? I wrote this entire thing today, because I was trying to write the original Chapter 3 with Nico but this came to me much easier. And Clarisse was supposed to be there instead of Sherman, but then I read that she's in Arizona when this takes place and Sherman Yang is the cabin counselor now. Anyway, have fun with this!**

 **And I still want to know what things from the original should be kept, and what shouldn't. Right now, anything's on the table, including completely scrapping that.**


	4. An Interesting Turn Of Events

**Chapter 4- An Interesting Turn Of Events**

Nico awoke groggily from his emergency nap when his stomach started growling. He was still exhausted, and not just physically. His magic and mind also felt like they needed more rest, but he knew in the way people do that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. He glanced over at a clock on the wall of the cabin, and saw that it was about one in the afternoon. He sighed and relaxed back into his pillow, then begrudgingly got out of bed.

He didn't bother making his bed before going out into the bright midday sunlight. Stumbling down the steps a little, he decided to go to the dining hall and grab a bite to eat. There should be leftovers from lunch, shouldn't there? If not, he'd find another food source.

As he wandered the camp, he noticed that it seemed emptier than normal. There were people about, but none of the people that Nico normally talked to. It was a shame, he kind of felt like taking Percy up on his volleyball offer. And where was Will? Nico had figured that he would have woken him up to ask about his trip by now. Even the fact that Nico woke up by himself was strange.

Finally he caught sight of Cecil Markowitz, a son of Hermes that Nico had hung out with on more than one occasion. He was alone, which was odd, since normally you could find Lou Ellen by his side. Nico waved, and when Cecil caught his eye he hopped off the railing he was sitting on and came over to talk.

"Nico! How's it going?" Cecil asked.

"Fine. Where is everyone?" Nico asked in return. He was starting to get concerned. This was a weird coincidence considering how the day had gone so far. But those two events couldn't possibly be connected, could they?

"You're looking for Will?" Cecil guessed. Nico cracked a rare smile, and laughed nervously.

"Yeah, how did you guess?" He asked.

"You two are never apart, and you're wandering around like a lost puppy!" Cecil laughed. His laugh seemed a lot more genuine than Nico's. But, Nico had to admit, he was telling the truth.

"I could say the same about you and Lou," Nico commented.

"Then I guess our stories are connected, because they're in the same place. There was an emergency cabin leader meeting, so they're all in the Big House right now," Cecil explained. Nico nodded thoughtfully, but grew concerned as he realized something.

"But I'm a cabin counselor. Why would they let me sleep through an emergency meeting?" Nico wondered. It wouldn't have been weird if he didn't have friends who were also cabin counselors, like Will, Percy, Lou, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, and Jason, (which was about half of the counselors accounted for). But since they all were considered his friends, it was really odd that none had gotten him for the meeting.

Cecil shrugged. "I don't know. They've been in there for, like, an hour though. Will might've thought you needed sleep more than a meeting?"

"Yeah, that does sound like him," Nico nodded. His concerns weren't gone, though. "It sounds like it's important, though. I might have to go show up late."

"That's probably the best idea," Cecil agreed. Nico thanked him and turned away. "Oh, wait! Just remembered! Reyna's here!" He said before Nico walked away. He turned back slowly.

"Reyna's here?" He asked in disbelief. Cecil nodded cheerfully, and then left to do business elsewhere. He thought back to what she had said this morning, and what he had said to her, and none of it seemed to explain what she was doing here. But… Hazel might have said something to her about their visit to the underworld. She hadn't sworn anything, after all, and it made sense that after explaining to Reyna and Frank what Hades had wanted Reyna would have immediately wanted to get the truth for herself. The likeliness of the emergency meeting being about him grew.

He leaned against a cabin post and debated his idea of going to the meeting. He had sworn on the River Styx that he wouldn't talk about the meeting with his father, so if they questioned him about it he would be physically incapable of telling them anything. He'd be forced to deny it. But if they had already heard it from Hazel, then they wouldn't believe him, and they'd lose trust in him. And right now, he wanted to protect their trust.

But what other options were there? He could leave, which would make them think that he had run and turned against them. Or he could wait and see what happened, and deal with it then, when he had all the details. But on the other hand, not everyone in there was friendly. For his own safety, he might have to flee. And yet… he was fairly certain that his friends wouldn't let him get skewered on a spear before hearing him out. At the very least it was fortunate Clarisse had stepped down from being a counselor to go to college.

First things first, whatever he decided, was getting something to eat. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, and went to the dining hall. He found some leftovers in the abandoned pavilion, and grabbed a bagel.

An idea occurred to him then, and he almost dropped his food. It was so obvious! He could eavesdrop on the meeting! Why didn't he think of that before? He hurried over to the Big House and dropped the almost-finished-bagel into a nearby trashcan.

Since it was a hot summer, they had left a window cracked in the meeting room. There was a slight breeze, without which everyone would probably be dead in the heat. Nico crouched under the window, and listened carefully.

The first voice he could identify was Will's, who seemed to be arguing. "You can't seriously think he'd turn his back on the camp, though, can you?"

"Well, it's his dad, right? Wouldn't you?" It took Nico a second to recognize that voice as Sherman Yang, a son of Ares. Or, in other words, Clarisse's replacement. He wasn't a lot better than her, just as angry and battle-hungry. At least Clarisse had gotten better over the years, it seemed that Sherman hadn't had the same experience.

His statement, though, pretty much confirmed that they were talking about him. Will seemed to be vouching for him, but he couldn't say for sure what Sherman was talking about. It was almost as if he were defending his actions. But he was presumably reasoning his actions for betraying the camp, so it could be assumed that Sherman thought he was a traitor.

"No, because we're loyal to the camp here!" Percy's voice was next. Nico couldn't really tell what this meant, since he didn't have the full context. It seemed like he was defending himself from Sherman's statement.

"And Nico seems to be pretty happy here, now, so I don't think he'd throw that away on a whim." That was Jason. Nico blinked, pleased that more people were standing up for him. And Jason's words were true. Well, things could be better, but overall it wasn't that bad at camp anymore. But Nico didn't really think that this would be 'on a whim.' If he chose a side, he'd have to have thought about it for a while.

"Whatever. Just be careful, Roman." That was Sherman's voice again, directed towards someone other than Jason. Nico heard a chair scratch against the floor, and quickly got up. A twig snapped under his foot and he froze for a second, but from the quiet it seemed that no one had noticed. He continued on and ran over around the back of the house. Sherman would be be coming out, soon, and Nico didn't want to be caught eavesdropping.

Was the Roman Sherman mentioned Reyna? It had to be, Cecil had said that Reyna was here. Why did she need to be careful? Was it because of him? Had Reyna defended him, or spoken against him? Was she supposed to find him now? Nico couldn't know for sure, so he decided to stay on guard.

The chances were decent that someone, probably Reyna, was looking for him now, and being spotted here wouldn't be good. They might go to his cabin, first, assuming they had seen him there while he was asleep. That bought him some time.

The noise of people exiting the Big House startled him, and he decided that the immediate course of action he should take would be to disappear into the woods for a bit. That way it wouldn't be weird if someone found him in the woods, since that was pretty normal for him.

So Nico backed carefully away, disappearing under the shade of the trees. He ended up walking in a direction that is pointedly not the direction of the rest of the camp. As Nico looked around, he found himself at a loss as to what to do next. Great, he's in the woods, now what?

A sound behind him answered that question. Nico spun around and tapped the ring on his right hand with his thumb, causing the full Stygian iron blade to form and rest easily in his hand. He pointed the sword at the source of the sound, glaring.

"Woah! Calm down!" Will Solace said, putting his hands up. Nico's eyes widened in shock, and he immediately reverted the sword back into a ring. Will relaxed a little, letting his hands drop. "What's got you so jumpy, today?" He asked.

"Oh, just… A lot's happened today, that's all," Nico explained. He self-consciously ran a hand through his hair, trying not to meet Will's eye.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Will laughed, but his eyes weren't really all that happy. They looked more tired, the blue faded into a dull grey. Nico was aware that Will was stressed, and probably for the same reasons that he was. He didn't know what to say.

"...Why are you in the woods?" Nico settled on asking. It was a fair question, since being a counselor Will probably had more important things to be doing.

"I heard you eavesdropping, and I figured you'd go here first," Will admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. Nico frowned, remembering the twig he had snapped. Hopefully no one else had heard. "Thought I'd come make sure that you were alright." Apparently he was just going to jump right in, no hesitation. No small talk, just getting right to the point. Which was exactly what Nico didn't want.

"I appreciate that," Nico nodded, deciding that he'd have to be careful about what he said. Even with Will.

"...So are you alright?" Will asked uncertainly. While Nico wanted to avoid eye contact Will seemed to be trying to force it.

"Yeah, just fine," Nico shrugged, wiping any emotions off of his face to seem indifferent. Will sat down on the ground and leaned against a tree, patting a spot next to him and looking at Nico expectantly. Nico rolled his eyes but sat down anyway.

"How was your trip this morning?" Will asked then. He picked up a leaf and absently poked holes in it with his nails. This seemed like a safe topic, even if it was one that could rapidly spiral into danger.

"It was nice," Nico said. "I helped Reyna out with leading, and I got to spend time with Hazel, so it was good." Will looked at him in surprise.

"Nothing else?" He asked, raising one eyebrow higher than the other.

"Nope," Nico said automatically. They both knew that Nico was avoiding the real topic, but Will couldn't figure out why. Any theories he had he dismissed because they weren't very positive thinking.

"Are you lying to me, now?" Will dropped the leaf and glanced over at Nico, who figeted uncomfortably. He had sworn on the Styx, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't tell him anything. He groaned in frustration.

"No, I just don't have anything else to say on the matter," He conceded.

"So we're ignoring your trip to the Underworld? And all of the stuff that happened with Hades?" Will was starting to get actually annoyed, rare for the son of Apollo. Nico shrugged, not looking at Will. He didn't know if he could answer without infringing on the oath, so he didn't respond. "You know, not saying anything will just make me assume the worst."

"Sorry," Nico mumbled.

"And what's sorry supposed to do?" Will asked, standing up. "What's the point of trying to ignore it? I already know about it, and I know you were aware of that fact because you were eavesdropping!"

"So what do you want from me?" Nico asked, also getting to his feet.

"Well, I want to know what happened, first of all. And from _you_ , not second-hand news from Reyna," Will demanded, his arms crossed.

Nico hesitated, then spoke without meaning to. "Nothing happened." He winced, knowing that that didn't help anything. Will stared at him for a moment, then his annoyance turned into anger.

"Nico. Can't you see I'm trying to help? A lot of the camp thinks you're a traitor, but I can't exactly disprove that if you don't cooperate!" Will threw his hands in the air, and began to pace. "You're lucky I found you first. Reyna's looking for you right now, did you know? And I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't be as nice as me."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Nico said again, meaning it. He was starting to get frustrated with the situation, and especially being the cause of Will's stress and anger. He didn't want Will angry with him.

"Do you not trust me? Is that it?" Will asked, slowing his pacing.

"No!" Nico said without hesitation. He was actually relieved that Will was the first person he talked to, since he was the only one he was positive would believe in him. Without Will he'd be even more jumpy, and more distrustful.

"Then why won't you talk to me?" Will pulled at his hair, feeling every bit as frustrated as Nico.

"I can't talk about it!" Nico said. He may not be able to mention the oath specifically, but maybe he could hint at it and hope that Will got it. Will stopped and looked at him coldly, seemingly studying him. He could see that Nico was sincerely apologetic, but he didn't let his guard down just yet.

He thought for a moment, and then his face shifted into realization. "Let me guess, you swore an oath," Will sighed. Nico didn't respond, so Will knew he was right. He let the tension in his shoulders drain, and took a deep breath. "Alright. We can work around this." Nico sighed in relief.

"I probably could have said that sooner, huh?" Nico said, trying to desolve the tension more. Will hummed in agreement, distracted by his thoughts.

"Alright. Here's what I'll do. I'm going to tell you what I know, just so that we're on the same page, okay? Hopefully if I get anything wrong you can let me know," Will decided. Nico nodded back. "Okay. So. Hades wants to take over the world, right? And he wanted you and Hazel to help. And…" He trailed off, trying to remember any other details. "I guess that's all I know. And also that Hazel left pretty quick, and that you swore an oath. Is that it? Anything else important?" Will asked.

"No," Nico said automatically. He frowned.

"Well I guess that's a useless question, huh?" Will laughed a little, and thought for another moment. "Reyna's probably on her way right now. She's definitely figured out that you're not asleep, by now."

"What should we do?" Nico asked.

"Oh, it's 'we' now?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow. Nico started to amend, but Will waved him off. "No, no, you're right. I'm not letting you deal with this alone. Who knows what would happen to you? ...But about Reyna… Would it be such a bad idea to talk to her? She's your friend, right?"

"Yeah, she is. But I know that her legion comes first, and I respect that. I can't tell her anything, either, so maybe we should just avoid that?" Nico asked hesitantly. Will considered that, and nodded. It seemed reasonable enough.

"So then our next course of action would be… Um…" Will trailed off, and looked to Nico for help.

"...I have to be somewhere tomorrow," Nico said. "Around noon?" Will looked at him blankly, wondering where he could possibly be going. Then it dawned on him.

"Oh, back to the Underworld. Duh. To report back, right? To Hades?" Will asked, then hurridly ammended that. "I mean, you don't have to answer that. But… do you want to do that? What would you say?"

"I don't know, I figured that I would figure everything out before then," Nico shrugged. He and Will both knew that he had to tell Hades whether or not he'd be helping him take over Olympus at that meeting.

"Well, you're going to tell him no, right?" Will asked with certainty.

"Mm… maybe? Like I said, I wanted to figure that out…" Nico winced. That probably didn't sound very good. But he wasn't sure what side he'd be taking, or if he'd be taking a side at all. He looks up and meets Will's eyes, gazing at him in concern. "What, he-" Nico's jaw clamps shut of its own violition. Apparently telling Will that Hades had had some good points violated the oath. He glared at nothing in particular.

"...It looks like you need time to think," Will said, even though both of them knew that what he really meant was 'You need more time to decide to fight against Hades.' Nico was a little uncomfortable. He knew that everyone expected him to fight for 'good', but when the good side was inevitably going to be against his own father, then he didn't want to. Besides, if he ended up on the 'bad' side, he could have some control over simple things such as, maybe, making sure that his friends aren't hurt, and that nothing too terrible happened. It might be more advantageous to side with his father, even if that might turn him against his friends. But he didn't want that to happen, either.

"I can't think very well when I'm worried about being interrogated by angry demigods," Nico said, thinking back to the immediate threat of Reyna. Not threat, just… Stressful situation.

"It sounds like you need to get out of here!" A voice called cheerfully from above them. A second later a body crashed down from the trees, landing in front of the two. "Whoops! Sorry!" The voice called. A second later Lou Ellen poked her head out from behind a branch, looking down at Cecil, who had fallen.

"Lou?" Will asked in surprise. Nico was halfway to drawing his sword out of instinct before he decided that he wasn't in danger and relaxed.

The body on the ground lifted a hand. "Cecil's here, too!" He said, voice muffled from being face first in the grass.

"How long have you been here?" Nico asked. Lou jumped gracefully down, and brushed off her orange camp shirt. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes.

"Long enough," She smiled. Then she nudged Cecil with a foot, rolling him over. "Get up!" She commanded. Cecil groaned, and got to his feet slowly. "As I was saying, maybe we should leave camp for a while, get some time to figure things out."

"We?" Will asked blankly, brain still processing.

"Yes, we! Cecil and I shall come, too!" Lou grinned, and held out a hand to help Cecil finish getting up. Nico thought for a moment.

"You know, that's not actually a bad idea," He said, sounding surprised. Will looked at him, and back at Lou, and then at Cecil.

"Really? That's your solution?" Will asked.

"I'm for it, if my opinion counts," Cecil said. Lou smiled innocently, while Will turned his gaze to Cecil in shock.

"And we should probably go _now_ , because we heard you guys shouting and others probably did, too," Lou shrugged. "Though I think I managed to distract Reyna for at least a little bit, but she could get here any second."

"Yeah, there's that. So Will, you should take Nico and get out of here. We'll catch up, and bring supplies," Cecil suggested. Nico ran through that in his head, and didn't find any immidiate flaws, so he nodded.

"Sounds good to me. Alright, Will. Let's go," Nico said, turning to Will.

"Are you _serious_? Did no one think this through, at _all_?" Will asked, incredulous. Nico shrugged.

"Do you have a better idea?" Lou asked, crossing her arms. "Just go! We'll say that you two ran off together, it won't seem that unlikely at this point. We'll handle the rest!"

"Alright, then." Nico put a hand on Will's arm, and closed his eyes in focus. Will shook off the hand, and Nico opened his eyes and looked at him in confusion.

"No. No shadow traveling!" Will said. Nico opened his mouth to protest, but Will cut him off with a hand. "No! You've already overdone yourself today!"

The sound of not-so-distant voices make the four demigods freeze, listening intently. There were at least three people heading their way.

"Go!" Lou whispered urgently. She shoved Will, and took Cecil's arm and started running in the opposite direction. Will cast a worried look after them, and then Nico grabbed his hand and pulled him in the direction of the camp's border. Will shook his head to clear it, and then the two started running for the magical boundary.

* * *

 **A/N: *throws this and runs***


	5. An Idea

**Chapter 5- An Idea**

Nico and Will are well on their way by the time they stop to rest. They've been headed in the direction of New York for a few hours now, and Lou and Cecil still haven't caught up yet. So they don't have any food or water to sustain them as of now. It was driving Will crazy, and he was starting to complain about dehydration.

"It's hydrate or diedrate, Nico!" Will said, exasperated. Nico rolled his eyes, but then he heard something.

"Off the road," Nico said quietly, tugging Will's arm so that they're behind a tree. A pegasus flew overhead, and it was a good thing they wouldn't be able to be seen from the air. Will glanced at Nico, all lightness gone from his face. Nico nodded, and they tentatively went back out onto the road. They'd travel faster if they didn't have to navigate a forest, and they wanted Lou and Cecil to be able to find them.

"Hopefully that wasn't them," Will echoed his thoughts, trying to fix the more serious mood. He laughed weakly. "That would be unfortunate."

"I hope they get here soon. I'd hate to be stuck with only you for company," Nico smiled back. Will elbowed him, almost sending him off the road.

"Well, they'll probably show up soon. Hopefully with all the supplies we'll need. What do you think is happening at camp right now?" Will mused.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that Cecil and Lou are trying their hardest to tell a convincing lie. Lou's probably telling everyone they tried to stop us, and Cecil's probably ineffectively trying to back her up. Then they would mislead them, somehow, to buy us more time, and pack a bag with the essentials. Then they'd try to sneak out of camp, with limited success, because everyone's on high alert looking for us. Or maybe they joined a search party, I don't know. ...What do you think?" Nico asked, realizing he's been talking for a while.

"Oh, um, I don't know, that seems to pretty much cover it," Will blinked. Nico smiled. "But if they were to be successful in sneaking out, we'd be seeing them soon, right? It's been half an hour, maybe, since we left."

Nico hummed. "Right, but there's no sign of them. Then I'm out of ideas. Perhaps we should focus on getting to the city so that we can get our own food?" He suggested.

"...Did you just say the city?" Will asked. Nico raised an eyebrow at him.

"New York City? That's where we're going, right?" Nico said.

"Nico, that's over a hundred miles away. Where did you think camp was?" Will asked.

"By New York, obviously. I guess I normally shadow travel in, huh?" He laughed nervously.

Will frowned. "There's a smaller city on the way, we should be pretty close by now. Maybe we can meet up with the other two there. And get food." On the sides of the road they started to notice houses, and neighborhoods. Maybe they could find a gas station or somewhere else to stock up.

"Sure," Nico shrugged.

"I stand by the fact that this was horribly planned," Will pointed out.

"Hey, it's not like we had any time to plan! Nobody ever said that this was a good idea. It just wasn't the worst one," Nico defended. They were starting to see more and more cars the closer they got, so they ended up walking on the side of the road. With every car Nico got a little more anxious that they'd be caught, by mortals or otherwise. There was also much less tree cover, here, so if another pegasus came by they'd be screwed.

"Whatever. There's the town, at least." Will pointed up the road, where the trees and shrubbery gave way to actual civilization, and a possible gas station.

"We'll wait somewhere around here, but if they don't show up, then we'll get something at that store," Nico decided. It felt like they'd been walking for hours, and he was still exhausted from all the shadow traveling he'd done earlier.

As luck would have it, there was a bench sitting outside of the store. However, that was way to exposed for them to sit on for an undetermined amount of time. In the alleyway between the corner store and the building next to it would work much better. They may have gotten some weird looks from a few people, but it didn't really matter, as they looked away pretty quick. Either the mist at work or just Nico's off putting demeanor.

They went around the store to the back, where the dumpsters were.

"What now?" Will asked. He was probably still a little bit angry about the non-planning that went into this trip.

Nico shrugged. "We wait, I guess?"

"Yeah, we got that part already. I meant what do we do while we wait?" WIll asked, rolling his eyes.

"We just wait, what more do you expect?" Nico hopped up onto a dumpster to sit, swinging his legs a bit.

"...So," Will said after a minute or two of nothing. "Have you thought more about the-"

"No," Nico snapped. Will raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I just… I don't want to think about it right now. There's too much going on."

"Then can I ask a harmless question?" Will said, raising his hand like he was in school. Nico considered it.

"I guess. I don't have to answer, though," Nico warned. Will leaned against the wall.

"...I was wondering… What is Hades like? I mean, I've never met him, and it feels unfair to judge him," Will asked hesitantly.

Nico hummed, thinking. "Well, I guess everyone says he's just like me, but older and with longer hair. He's definitely the nicest olympian, and generally never starts fights…" He trailed off.

"Until now?" Will asked. Nico just nodded. "So this is pretty out of character for him, then, huh?"

"I don't know. It felt like he'd been brewing on this for a long time, who knows how long? But I guess it is a little strange," Nico frowned. It wasn't like they could deny it was happening by saying it was weird. But it was possible that some other forces were in play… He couldn't imagine his father ever being controlled, or acting against his own will. He didn't want any of this to be happening at all, but it would be worse if they had an enemy even stronger than Hades to defeat.

Will held up a hand, suddenly frowning. "Did you see that?" He asked quietly. Nico squinted his eyes. Will was looking directly in front of himself, but Nico couldn't see anything. Then a shimmer appeared in the air, slowly coming into focus. Will made an exclamation of surprise, and shoved Nico backwards into the dumpster.

"Will!" He yelled. The lid of the dumpster was slammed shut. Fuming, he pushed it up a little, to see what was so important it warranted this.

"Percy, what's up?" Will asked casually. Nico suddenly understood. Iris messaging was back.

"You haven't seen Nico, have you?" Percy asked. Nico winced. Of course.

"Nico? Oh, um, no… I wonder where he is…" Will asked. He was doomed. He heard Percy sigh.

"He'd be much safer here, you know. He's probably being hunted by gods, at this point. At least if he'd stayed at camp he wouldn't look so guilty. Don't you think we'd protect him?" Percy demanded.

Will looked conflicted, which didn't bode well for Nico. "Don't," He hissed.

Will sighed. "Can I get back to you on that?" He asked weakly. There was a moment of silence before Percy answered.

"Just don't make me hunt both of you down," Percy sighed. The call ended. Will turned to Nico, who was climbing out of the dumpster.

"I know what you're going to say-" Will started.

"About how if I go to camp everything will get worse?" Nico asked, staring him down.

"Yeah, that. But Percy had a point. Not everyone's out to get you, you know. You have so many friends at camp, and I promise they only want to help," Will reasoned.

"No. I can handle this, I don't need their help," Nico said stubbornly. He was getting sick of people telling him what to think and what to do. "Lou and Cecil will be here soon, and then we're getting as far away as we can, as fast as we can."

"...Speak of the devil," Will muttered as the two aforementioned demigods appeared around the corner. "This conversation isn't over." Nico nodded, having expected that much.

"First thing's first, we need to cover you guy's tracks better. I didn't even need to use magic until we got to the city," Lou said as soon as she saw them.

"Magic?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, magic. Tracking magic, to be specific. It's pretty handy," She said. "So, what have you two been up to while we were away?" She changed the subject.

"Wait, tracking magic is a thing? Can anyone do it?" Nico asked in confusion. That wasn't good.

"Not anyone, but kids of Hecate definitely can. And the more powerful the demigod, the easier to track!" She smiled. Will and Nico exchanged a glance. Lou narrowed her eyes, then seemed to get what they were worried about, at the same time as Cecil.

"You're saying that anyone can track us!?" Cecil said suddenly. Lou widened her eyes. "Nico's one of the most powerful demigods out there, are you serious!?"

"...Oh. I can see why that might be a problem." Lou frowned, and thought for a moment. "... But I may have an idea." Her face turned to a devious smile, and Nico found himself suddenly afraid of where this was leading.

"What is it?" He asked hesitantly.

"Well, I'm glad you asked! It's just an interesting spell I learned a while back… Very interesting indeed…" Lou smirked, tapping her fingers together. It was a little… much.

"We're kind of on a time limit here, Lou, cut the suspense already," Will reminded her. Her face dropped and went back to normal.

"Right. Got carried away," She said sheepishly. "The spell I was thinking of will basically put everything that makes you a demigod on mute, so to speak. You won't be able to use your powers at all, but you'll be completely disguised. Not even monsters will be able to find you. Only problem is, it's kind of complicated, and difficult to reverse. But I'm pretty sure I can do it, don't worry!"

"Um… So you're saying it will make me… Mortal?" Nico asked. He wasn't sure what to think about that. It could potentially solve several of his problems. If he cut himself off completely from the demigod world, he wouldn't have to deal with any of this. His own father wouldn't be able to find him, if he wanted it. Neither would camp, or even monsters… Well, when he put it like that it sounded very appealing.

"Yep, basically. I'd have to do it to all of you, of course, so that we could definitely stay on the down low, but… It's up to you, I'm not about doing anything against your will," Lou shrugged.

Will didn't sound like he liked that very much. "That'd make us so much more vulnerable, though. If this thing escalates into any kind of battle, then we'd be completely defenseless. And at this point, given how everyone's reacted, I think fighting is pretty likely. There's other ways to find people besides magic."

"...But you're missing the point, I think, Will," Nico stepped in. "If we do this, we don't have to get involved at all. Percy's probably going to be looking for us, remember?"

"Percy?" Cecil asked.

"He Isis messaged us right before you guys got here. He… actually made some pretty good points, if I'm being honest," Will said.

"Points like what?" Lou asked. Nico frowned. He did not want them agreeing with Will or Percy, and making him go back to camp. Or trying to, anyways. He would have to abandon them, and go off on his own. That would make this whole quest so much harder.

"He'd be a lot safer at camp, for one. Almost everyone who cares about him is there, and they wouldn't let him get hurt. The gods know by now, and who do you think they're going to be looking for first?" Will asked. There was silence as everyone thought this over.

"Guys, come on. If I'm at camp they know where to find me. If I stay at camp, I'm effectively picking a side, and going deliberately against my father. It's not an option," Nico argued. He could see that they were seeing the logic in Will's words, though. "Can't you just trust me to make decisions for myself, for once?"

"Nico, I'm just trying to look out for you," Will said, a little hurt by his words.

"Whatever. What did you bring," Nico asked in a monotone, and crouched next to the backpack Cecil had set on the ground without waiting for a response. He dug through it, finding it was almost completely full. There was a lot of granola bars and trail mix, mainly, along with lots of medical supplies. He opened up one of the granola bars, and took a few bites. It was pretty bland.

"You can't just drop conversations, Nico," Lou said. Cecil was looking back and forth, distressed.

"Just did. We should start moving." With that, Nico zipped up the bag and slung it over his own shoulders, and started walking. He stayed behind the buildings, not wanting to go out into the street.

He didn't look behind him, but he could hear the other three reluctantly following, and whispering amongst each other. They had been friends for way longer than he'd known them, and it was apparent that he wasn't yet a real part of the group. That was okay, though. If they didn't like him, then they wouldn't have come. And they could leave any time.

As Nico walked through the alleys of the tiny town, his thoughts drifted back to Lou's proposal. Would he even survive being mortal? He'd been relying on his demigod powers for too long. And why shouldn't he, when any situation could be fixed by simply teleporting away? Or opening the earth to bury a monster, or giving off an aura that made everyone stay away? One show of his sword was enough to make anything back off, mortal or otherwise.

He looked at his ring, where his sword was hidden. It was cursed, so that anyone who touched it got their life slowly drained away. If he killed a monster with it, that monster wouldn't go to Tartarus, and would never reform. It was a dangerous sword, to all but him. Well, to all but a child of Hades. So what if he was no longer a demigod at all? He'd have to get rid of the sword, and put it somewhere safe, where he could retrieve it later. That would leave him completely defenseless.

His fist closed as he stared at it. He could throw a good punch, right? He'd never had to before. But to use a sword efficiently, he needed to be strong. And he was nothing if not efficient in sword fighting. He was fast, he was strong, and that probably meant that his skills could translate to hand-to-hand combat.

So he could, probably, survive being mortal. It would cut him off from the demigod world, hide him from monsters and gods alike. Thanks to his first few years outside of the Lotus Casino, he was adept at living in the mortal world on his own. He would be nearly defenseless, but he wouldn't have anything to defend himself from. And Lou said that she could reverse it, though she hadn't sounded confident. Just performing the magic would be difficult.

"Lou," Nico called over his shoulder. She looked surprised, but hurried to catch up to him and walk next to him. "Tell me more about the spell."

* * *

 **So, um, hi. I started this chapter pretty soon after I posted chapter 4, but didn't finish it until now. And even then it's pretty short. But I've outlined the next few chapters, so that might go a little quicker? I really really want to write this, and finish it, and I have ideas for it. It's just that we're at a weird spot right now, I don't have a lot of motivation, and I'm writing other things too. When I first started writing Ndaatwmm, (the original one), I was starting freshman year in high school. Posting this, I just finished my first week of senior year. I kind of just want this to be finished and done, but also I want it to be quality.**

 **So I'll try to post again soon, please review with more ideas and things that you want from this! Every time I go back and read reviews I get more motivated to keep writing this!**

 **(And, uh, the other things I'm writing, I probably won't post until I'm way more finished buuuuut... just to get an idea... who all would be interested in reading some DC batman and robin fanfic someday? ;)**


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